JUDAS WAS A PREACHER TOO!

Matthew 27:3-5, “The Judas, which had betrayed him, when he
saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty
pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that
I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou
to that, And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and
went and hanged himself.”

A strange man has come into the
area. He dressed rather strangely and differently. He was wearing some rough
clothing called camel’s hair. He was from the wilderness sort of a hillbilly if
you please. He was from the wilderness of Judea. His diet was a very unusual
composing of locust and honey. He came to the banks of the Jordan River from
the hills and wilderness nearby. He began to preach about someone the people
had anticipated would come someday but did not realize He had already arrived
on the scene.

This strange hillbilly preacher
was John the Baptist. I am convinced most of the Apostles were saved under his
ministry and baptized by John the Baptist. This of course in itself made the
Apostles Baptists.

John the Baptist came preaching
and crying aloud, “There cometh after me one whose shoes I am not worthy to
unloose.” He said to the people, “He must increase and I must decrease.” The
lowly man of Galilee wandered to the shores of the banks of the Jordan River.
There John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and shouted, “Behold the lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world.”

Some dumb bunny said that John
the Baptist preached one Gospel and Paul preached another Gospel. No! John the
Baptist said, “Behold the lamb of God” the substitute that taketh away the sins
of the world if you please.

Multitudes came to hear this
unusual hillbilly preacher. This evangelist had not preached like any one had
before his time. There was a certain attraction and magnetism toward him. I’m
sure he gave an invitation much like a fundamental church would today. John the
Baptist asked the people to come to Jesus and accept Him as the Lamb of God
that would be the payment for all of their sins.

INVITATION

I can see it now! I see a throng
of people coming down the aisle, not a church aisle, but an aisle in between
people who were standing or seated. There is one who came, another who came,
and another who came, and then dozens and dozens who flooded these make shift
aisles.

In that crowd that day was a man
named Judas Iscariot from a place called Cariot. Judas Iscariot that day saw
his friends walk down the aisle and he said to himself maybe I’d better go down
to the front too! He steps out and starts to the front but there was something
different going on in his mind and heart. Others were admitting they were
sinners, Hell was where they were headed, and they must have the Lamb of God to
pay for their sins. Others were admitting that outside of Jesus’ shed applied
blood they would have no hope of going to Heaven.

However, this was not the mindset
of Judas Iscariot. He walked an aisle, but did not admit he was a sinner. He
walked an aisle, but did not admit he was on his way to a devil’s Hell in his
condition. He walked an aisle, but did not admit that he must trust the Lamb of
God to pay for his sins. He walked an aisle, but he did not admit that the shed
blood of the Lamb must be applied to his soul in order to have salvation.

Like Cain in the Old Testament he
wanted to make his own way. Thus, Judas Iscariot when he arrived to the front
made a false profession of faith in Jesus Christ. When John the Baptist
congratulated the dozens upon dozens at the altar for trusting Christ as their
Saviour no doubt Judas said to himself, “This is crazy! I didn’t get saved! I’m
not trusting Christ to save my soul! All I want to do is straighten up a little
bit and start running with the right crowd. All I want to do is have a better
life. No, I’m not trusting Jesus Christ at all. The truth is I don’t need Him
in order to make it to Heaven!”

Then he begins to feel bad! He
feels like a hypocrite and as John the Baptist goes from convert to convert he
looks one in their eyes and asked, “Are you trusting Jesus Christ as Saviour
and Him alone for the payment of your sins?” Convert after convert responds,
“Yes!”

Now, this Baptist preacher looks
Judas Iscariot in his eyes and asks, “Are you trusting Jesus Christ as Saviour
and Him alone for the payment of your sins?” Something inside of Judas
screamed, “Tell him NO, NO, NO!” However, Judas answered, “Yes!”

I wonder when his name was read
if he did not say to himself, “Maybe I ought to tell them now that I’m not
saved and I do need to get saved?” Something inside of him said, “Stand up and
tell the preacher you are not saved! Tell him you are a sinner! Tell him you
are headed for Hell! Tell him you want to trust Jesus’ shed blood and have it
applied to your soul!” But, tell him he didn’t because he was too proud to
admit that he wasn’t saved just like some of you reading this chapter.

Judas said to himself, “I can’t
do this! I’ll embarrass myself! Why, I’m well known and respected! Why, I’m a
smart businessman! Why, I’m a man of some means!”

BAPTISM

Can you imagine how he felt when
the hands of John the Baptist were placed on him for baptism? No doubt the
preacher’s left hand went to Judas’ elbow and his right went behind the head of
Judas Iscariot and held him by the neck while lowering him into the Jordan
River.

I can imagine what must have gone
through the mind of Judas Iscariot. No doubt he said to himself, “This is
mockery! I’m not really saved! I should have admitted I was a sinner! I should
have admitted I too am headed for Hell! I should have received Christ by faith
and been born again like the others! I must stop this baptism! I must tell the
preacher I’m not really saved! But I can’t do that. I’m respected in this town
among these people. Folks would laugh at me. Folks would make fun of me. I
can’t ruin this baptismal service. I can’t admit here and now I’m not saved I’m
not really born again. I know what I’ll do I’ll wait and tell the preacher
later on at a more convenient time.”

Ladies and gentleman I’m not
attempting to cause you to doubt, but I am cognizant of the fact that if out of
the chosen twelve there was one who was still unsaved and lost that out of
twelve readers of this article one is also possibly unsaved and lost without
salvation.

If you have never come to grips
with the fact that you are a sinner and will continue to sin, that you are
headed for a devil’s Hell, that Jesus Christ was the only acceptable sacrifice
by God the Father for man’s sins, and that you personally must invite Him to be
your Saviour that you are as lost as Judas Iscariot was.

Jesus made it clear in John
chapter that if a man is not born again he will not even see the kingdom of God
let alone go there. The same hands that lowered our Saviour into the water of
the Jordan River baptized Judas but Judas was too proud to admit he wasn’t
saved!

FULL TIME SERVICE

Time past and Jesus decided to
call some men up into a mountain in Matthew chapter 10. He decided to choose
the twelve men who would be His Apostles: the men whom He would train to carry
the Gospel to the known world after He is taken back up into Heaven. Peter,
Andrew, Bartholomew, James, John, Philip, and then to the shock of Judas
Iscariot his name is called. He was chosen to be one of the twelve Apostles to
walk with Jesus.

He saw Jesus open blind eyes,
unstop deaf ears, made the lame to leap, caused the dead to rise from the
grave, and bless the little children. He, Judas Iscariot, was chosen by Jesus
to be trained by Jesus Himself to be one of the Apostles. A full time worker
for God if you please!

Can you imagine how the
ordination service was when Jesus came and placed His hands on the head of
Judas Iscariot and Judas said to himself, “What in the world am I doing? This
is getting totally out of hand! Why, I ought to stand up right now and tell
everyone I’m not saved! I’m not born again! I ought to stop this charade and
stand up and tell them and take care of this thing once and for all! But, I
can’t do that. They will laugh at me. Look at how they are all looking at me?
Why I will embarrass myself. I can’t admit I’m really not saved. I know what I’ll do I’ll wait till
after the ordination service and then I’ll have a little talk with the
preacher. I’ll admit to him that I realize I’m a sinner, I’m headed for Hell,
and I’ll explain that I must trust the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ in order to go to Heaven. That’s it, I’ll wait till this ordination
service is over.”

As the actual hands of Jesus were
placed on his head, we have an unsaved man who knew he was unsaved, who knew he
ought to get saved, but because of pride would not stop this farce and trust
Christ goes ahead with this lie. All because he was afraid of embarrassing
himself in front of a few hundred people will someday be embarrassed in front
of the whole world at the Great White Throne Judgment of the unsaved as he
stands before God.

He is not only an unsaved church
member, not only an unsaved charter church member, but now he is an unsaved
ordained full time servant of God. He walked the aisle in a Baptist preaching
service but still lost. His name was called along with the others at the altar
as trusting Christ but still lost. He was baptized by John the Baptist but
still lost. He was ordained by Jesus Himself but still lost. Why, because of
pride and because he kept putting it off and putting it off!

No one reading this chapter
should take a chance on your never dying soul! Is there a Judas in the house?
Are you born again? Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Are you
saying to yourself you will take care of this matter of being saved later on?
Are you saying I’ll take care of it later on? Please do not dare take a chance
on an eternity in Hell.

Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved.” It does not say, “may be saved” but it does
say, “shall be saved.” AMEN!

STAFF MEMBER

Time has pasted and the church is
growing rather significantly. The offerings are likewise growing and finally
someone said we have to have someone who will do nothing but be responsible for
the accounting of the offerings. They held a meeting of the church and someone
stood and said there is a man in this church whom I trust more than anyone else
and his name is Judas Iscariot. That man made a motion and quickly someone else
seconded the motion that Judas be a staff member in charge of the finances. No
doubt it was a unanimous vote for everyone had confidence in this businessman
named Judas Iscariot.

If that church had voted who in
their church was not saved they would have never suspected it would be Judas
Iscariot. Judas was the most trusted disciple when it came to finances. They
gave Judas the purse. They gave Judas the responsibility of the offerings. They
did not have banks in those days so Judas carried the money.

Get the picture! As Jesus Himself
laid the moneybag in Judas’ lap Judas no doubt said to himself, “Stop this
insanity now! Tell Jesus you are not saved! Tell them all that you have not
been born again! This is crazy! This has got to stop! I should have admitted
this when I walked the aisle. I should have said something when they read the
names of those at the altar. I messed up because I should have stopped the
baptism service and told them I was unsaved. When I joined the church I should
have stopped and told them I was not saved. When I was ordained I should have
told them the truth! What have I done? But, that’s ok I’ll do it now! I’m going
to stand up and stop this now and tell them all that I’m not really saved and
I’m not really born again! Wait a minute! If I do that I’ll make a fool of
myself! I’d better wait and tell them later on! No sense in ruining this
business meeting now. I’ll wait for a more convenient time!”

However, Judas Iscariot waited
too long and now he is in Hell at this very moment! The Scripture says that
Judas went to his own place and there are some people reading this chapter who
have walked down a church aisle, been baptized, joined a local church, chosen
to be a leader but still unsaved. Please do not wait for a more convenient time
for TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION!

Judas continues his folly. Hey,
is there a Judas in the house? Judas walked a church aisle at the invitation
time, baptized by John, and joined the church. Chosen as one of the twelve, and
chosen as the most trusted of the twelve. He was not doubt at Sychar’s well. I
wonder if he didn’t say to himself, “I ought to do what she just did!” I’m sure
he was there when Matthew the converted tax collector had his meeting and gave
his testimony of how he had trusted Jesus Christ as Saviour. No doubt Judas
said, “I ought to do the same thing Matthew did. I ought to swallow my pride
and fall on my face, admit I know I’m a sinner, admit I’m headed for Hell,
admit that Jesus Christ is the only one who can pay for my sins, and then ask
Jesus to save my soul from going to Hell. BUT, this is not a good time. I
probably shouldn’t disrupt this meeting! I’ll just wait for a more convenient
time!”

When Matthew spoke it was Judas’
pride that kept him from saying, “I myself am not born again! I walked the
church aisle, I’ve been baptized, I am a charter church member, I am one of the
twelve Apostles, and I am the church treasurer but I’m still unsaved!”

THE END IS NEAR

In just a few hours Jesus is
going to Calvary. They have already felled the tree. They are shaving its bark.
They are making it into a cross. The court is about to convene. Jesus and about
120 are in the upper room. Judas Iscariot is sitting there along with the
others. All of a sudden Jesus takes a towel and a basin of water. He approaches
the feet of the disciples and begins to wash their feet.

Can you imagine how Judas
Iscariot felt when the Son of God began to wash his feet? Here He comes he is
getting closer. Now’s the time Judas! Tell Him now Judas! Settle it now Judas!

Judas says to himself, “I see it, Calvary is just around the corner. I know
Jesus is going to die. It is all coming to a head now. I can sense it. It is
true what Jesus said, ‘Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground it abideth
alone.’ It’s true what He said, ‘Destroy this temple and I’ll raise again after
three days.’”

Judas said to himself, “This is
crazy. How could I let this go on and on like this? I walked that church aisle
and I knew better. The day they read my name along with the other convert’s
names I knew I was not saved. That day I was baptized I should have said
something then. That day I joined the church I should have spoken up. That day
I was ordained I knew better I should have stopped it and spoke up. That day
they voted me in as treasurer I should have said something and told them the
truth. There is Jesus kneeling before me when I ought to be kneeling before
Him. I ought to do it now! Get saved now! BUT, they will laugh at me so I’ll
just wait a little longer. That would be much better.”

The problem with it is Judas is
burning in Hell at this very moment! Judas no doubt reasoned within himself,
“I’m a preacher! I’m ordained! I’m a charter church member! I’m holding an
office at church! I was baptized by John the Baptist himself! I was ordained by
Jesus Himself! Surely this is enough? Why, I even have cast out devils in His
name1 I’ve healed people! I’m one of the twelve most respected men in
Christianity! I am the most trusted of the twelve!” Is there a Judas in the
house?

A few hours have past. Jesus had
given the sop to Judas and Judas had been pointed out as the one who was going
to betray Jesus. Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. All of a sudden out of
the shadows Judas Iscariot says in a viper like hiss of a sound, “That’s Him!
Over there! I’ll kiss Him!”

The soldiers then impatiently
asked which one is He and Judas Iscariot said, “It’ll be the one that I kiss!
He’s the one! All while holding thirty pieces of paltry pieces of silver in his
hand. The truth is many are selling Jesus out for far less than that.

I see Judas slipping and
slithering up on the Saviour. I see him as he tiptoes toward the Saviour. I see
him as he is getting closer and closer. I see Judas as he leans over to kill
the Saviour as he says to himself, “What am I doing? What’s the matter with
me? This is insane! This is crazy!
What in the world has Jesus ever done to harm me? I ought to admit to Him right
now that I am a sinner, I’m headed for a devil’s Hell, and I ought to admit to
Him right now that He is the only one who can save my soul? I ought to ask
Jesus’ forgiveness right now and trust Him to pay for all of my sins?”

The truth is the day Judas walked
down the aisle with the dozens and dozens of others who trusted Christ he could
have and should have been honest with himself about being a sinner and needing
Jesus Christ to save him from all of his sins.

Judas is saying, “The day I
walked down the aisle I should have gotten saved. The day I was baptized I
should have gotten saved. The day I joined the church I should have gotten
saved. The day I was ordained I should have gotten saved. The day I was elected
treasurer I should have gotten saved. The day Jesus washed my feet I should
have gotten saved, and right now I ought to stop this horrible betrayal and get
saved! BUT, what will the soldiers think? What will the crowd say? What will
the disciples say? What will the rest of the church say? I can’t do it! I’ll
wait till this all blows over and later on I’ll get saved.

Is there a Judas in the house? Is
there a Judas in the house? Judas Iscariot passed upon yet another opportunity
to become born again of the Spirit of God. He could have truly kissed the Son
of God with the kiss of faith but now he kisses Him with the kiss of betrayal.

A few hours passed. The
Scriptures tell us he repented himself. What does that mean? He was not
repenting of what he did but because he did it for such a small amount of
silver. He did not go to the Saviour he went to a Chief Priest. He would rather
have religion than have Christ. Judas was so guilt ridden and unrepentant that
he took his money and cast it before the Chief Priest and then went out and
hung himself. What a sad ending!

The Scripture says Judas Iscariot
went to his own place and for 2,000 years he has been screaming in Hell
awaiting his final entombment in the Lake of Fire forever. I can hear him
screaming now, “Oh, my God I waited too late! Oh, my God please give me a drip
of water to cool my tormented tongue for I am tormented in this flame!